Intel or AMD? Which is better?

Okay, I'm thinking about upgrading my computer, well, improving it anyway. I have a mid range Asus P4p800S-SE motherboard and a 3.0ghz Intel Prescott which i've overclocked to 3.3ghz. I'm definatly going to upgrade the motherboard probably to an Asus P4p800-E Deluxe, and I'm considering going for something other that the HOT prescott, which at the moment is 56C idel and goes over 70C with a huge HS. I thought, what about AMD? I've built a number of Intel based computers but never an AMD, but looking at clock speeds the most expensive 'clawhammer' I saw only runs at 2400Mhz and has 400FSB, where as my Prescott runs at 300Mhz with 800FSB. Am I missing something here? I know alot of people prefer AMD but thats quite a bit slower than the intel and its considerably more expensive (about £100 more).
So whats so good about AMD?

 

You may notice AMD does not sell chips by mhz. They label them something like 2800 or 3200, etc. This is because people were doing like you and looking at the mhz. MHZ is no longer something you should look at when buying a processor. It doesn't tell you anything about performance any more. If you look at an AMD chip running at 2400Mhz and take a p4 chip running at 2400 mhz you'll notice one thing. The p4 chip won't even come close to matching it for anything. The AMD chip will blow it out of the water for all benchmarks.

This is the reason AMD sells chips by this other numbering system. You can find a long version of the exact explination on AMD site. Essentially though a 2800 chip is roughly the same thing as a p4 at 2.8Ghz. Likewise a 3800 AMD chip is roughly the same thing as a 3.8Ghz. This isn't the exact system. I believe the exact thing is it's the same as an intel 1ghz chip if it were over clocked to that speed. The actual definition gets pretty complex though and if you want it you can find it on AMD's site.

Because of this you'll notice intel has finally stopped increasing the stupid clock speed and they are now trying to imrpove other parts of the chip in order to increase performance the way AMD does it.

So essentially AMD chips and P4 chips remaing farily close to even. Each company ususally puts out a chip which matches or is very close to matching the other. Comparing chips by Mhz is something that stopped working years ago.

Other advantages to AMD is the fact that they have 64 bit chips and have had them for quite some time. Intel is now just starting to get it's non server 64 bit chips out. So many people chose AMD because of 64-bit support. Although right now 64-bit support isn't that important it is quite likely that the next version of windows will only run on 64bit chips. So that may be something you want to consider.

I personally only buy AMD chips myself since intel chips cost more then AMD chips that perform the same. Although I don't really have anything against intel chips.

 

Check this out;

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/cpu_charts-15.html

I think both the high end AMD and Intel are over priced,AMD is king of gaming,Intel is king of video encoding

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/cpu_charts-18.html

The way I see them is Intel as a Tractor and Amd as a race car,The intel can crunch numbers all day and juggle power hungry apps,but for pure efficient passing of smaller amounts of information around the system to the GPU the AMD takes it.

 

Thanks for the replys. So a 3200+ AMD would be faster than my 3Ghz Presscott. What about heat, do the AMD have any heat problems? Also I'm seeing loads of different names on the AMDs like Winchester, Newcastle, CLAWHAMMER (I like that one!) what do they mean? Is it bassicly AMD's version of Northwood, Prescott etc?
I like the look of this one:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=79189

Also while i'm on the subject, what's the difference between socket 754 and socket 939?

Also (sorry!) what do the different types of Athlon mean, e.g. Athlon 64, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon XP?

Sorry about all the questions, I'm a complete AMD virgin and have no idea what this all means.

 

Current AMD's are rated to function properly until 85C the older ones are rated to 90C. They do tend to run warmmer then pentium chips do. It's not an issue for actual performance though. So heat isn't really an issue with them, unless you're looking for bragging rights for lower temps. Having it run lower won't really change anything though, so long as you don't overheat it that is.

As for the names, yes they're AMD's version of Nothwood, Prescott and so on. Although unless you get really picky you don't have to worry too much about actually knowing the diffrences in those names.

A socket 754 chip has 754 pins. A socket 939 has 939 pins. They are just diffrent types of chips. Personally I go with socket 939 because most things seem to be leaning towards it and it looks like it has some more support. Remeber you'll have to buy a socket 939 or a socket 754 board, they won't be the same motherboard.

Athlon 64 is just there base 64 bit chip. Athlon 64 FX is there more advanced 64 bit chip. And Athlon XP is there older 32 bit chip.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

Yes it would but not enough to have it aswell as the prescott,its been also observed that windows runs faster on an a64 faster menu loads boot times and such those fancy names are just the cores like intel not much seperates them really newcastle,winch,claw in order of performance and price.754 old socket,939 new socket.Xp slowest a64 faster FX fastest also in order of price.Fx are way expensive.

 

So, if I went for the socket 939 motherboard, what would be the best I could get for more or less £100? One thing I want, that I havn't seen on the few I've just looked at, is an AGP slot. I just bought a Geforce 6600GT AGP and all the MBs I just looked at only support PCI-E.

Thanks for the help, by the way!

 

Check this store out its not an online store it actually exists "I drive there"
There prices are great and have the best return and customer support I have ever seen in my life,you can just say I'v changed my mind and get a full refund,I get all my stuff from there
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=146522

 

Mine,Msi neo plat 2

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=134167

i'v had some issues with the sata ports now resolved but rock solid,top quality and the best performing nf3 939 agp board In all tests

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=134167

 

I have had an INtel P4 for a long time and have always had Pentium Chips.

I just bought an AMD64 3500 and believe me, I will never look back again.

AMD is the way to go Brother.

 

Check these out,look at the other benchmarks too on the next page aswell as dx9,sythetic,video. ect. there are some sli nf4 pci express boards thrown in there and they have trouble keeping their head above water

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050103/socket_939-20.html#directx_9

 

Thanks for the advice. I've been buying from ebuyer or coverclockers.co.uk up till now, but i'll deffinatly give scan a try with this new order, their prices look good and if they're as good as you say they are, I can't go wrong!
I'll be interested to compare Intel and AMD, as I mainly use my machine for gaming not video editing, hopefully i'll see an improvement and join the ranks of AMD lovers
Cheers Guys!